The University of Colorado Mediterranean Studies Group

The CU Mediterranean Studies Group is open to interested faculty and graduate students from Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences programs at CU Boulder and neighboring institutions, as well as to the Colorado community. Its aim is to develop Mediterranean Studies at CU Boulder and promote interdisciplinary collaboration and discussion among the broadest possible spectrum, with a view to encouraging research and teaching in the emerging field of Mediterranean Studies. We seek to explore categories of historical and cultural analysis that present alternatives to established national, “civilizational” and continental paradigms and emphasize conflict, exchange and interaction among diverse ethnic, religious and cultural collectives as a force behind innovation and historical development in a wide range of human endeavors. Through the Mediterranean, we seek to interrogate, assess and revise established heuristic categories and the teleological narratives that have emerged out of post-Enlightenment northern European scholarship and that have exercised an effective monopoly on our conception of Modernity and its emergence, and on the nature of cultural identity in general. Our focus is centered on but not limited to the Mediterranean region; scholars working on comparable problems in other regions and other aspects of “Oceanic Studies” are most welcome.

The group focuses particularly on questions relating to ethno-religious and ethno-cultural identity and its construction, inter-communal relations, cross-cultural exchange, innovation and artistic production, movement and migration, the development and expression of hegemonic power and of empire, the role of economics and commerce in these processes. Although the period from late Antiquity to the Early Modern is emphasized, we engage with these themes through the whole of Mediterranean history, from the Neolithic to the Present.

We welcome proposals and suggestions from CU faculty and graduate students for reading group sessions, seminars or works-in-progress workshops both for the present academic year and future.

If you would like to get notifications for our scholarly events, click here; if you are a member of the community interested in events aimed at the public, click here to become a "Friend of the Mediterranean."

Our program for 2018-19 is currently being finalized but will include faculty workshops, , visits by outside scholars, and an one-day international conference in April. CU faculty and graduate students can apply for support to attend the Mediterranean Seminar workshops (at the University of Michigan in October, Princeton University in March, and Brown University in May).

16 April 2019: Daniel König (History: University of Konstanz) on ““Arabic-Islamic Views of the Latin West: the Problem and Some Suggestions How to Solve it” • 11am: Rec Center Medium Overlook Room. Coffee and light refreshments for registered attendees For registration for all events and information, please contact: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu).

Monday, 11 March & Tuesday, 12 March 2019: Prof. Daniel Hershenzon (Literatures, Cultures & Languages: University of Connecticut), will give a lecture,“The Captive Sea: Slavery, Communication, and Commerce in Early Modern Spain and the Mediterranean,” on Monday, 11 March at 4pm in CASE W313, and a seminar, “Captivity Letters,” on Tuesday, 12 March at 9:30am in Rec Center Studio 4. Coffee and light refreshments for registered attendees at both events. For registration for all events and information, please contact: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu).

Thursday, 14 February 2019: “A Mediterranean Saint for Christians and Muslims: St. George and al-Khidr,” a talk by Prof. Erica Ferg (Liberal Arts: Regis University) at 9:30am in the Large Overlook Room (Rec Center). “In a region of the Eastern Mediterranean known as the Levant, agricultural communities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, for at least the last 800 years, have largely shared and jointly venerated three important holy figures… more… Coffee and light snacks will be provided for registered attendees. For registration: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu).

# 1 & 2 March 2019: The Mediterranean Seminar Winter 2019 Workshop: Turning Points (Princeton University) -A two-day workshop workshop dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the Mediterranean. The theme of this annual workshop is "Turning Points." Turning points in Mediterranean history for several reasons. First, one of the goals of oceanic and maritime histories is to ask whether such histories challenge more conventional periodizations. Second, certain turning points in Mediterranean history (like the Pirenne thesis) enjoy a well-developed historiography but many others (such as the transition from the medieval to the early modern) are far more fuzzy. Finally, we will take up the debateover whether the Mediterranean disappears in the modern period (however defined.) Sponsored and organized by the Mediterranean Seminar/CU Mediterranean Studies Group, and Princeton University’s Center for Collaborative History, Humanities Council, Department of Comparative Literature, and the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund. Program • Speakers

#Saturday, 5 January 2019: Iberian Babel: Multilingualism and Translation in the Medieval and the Early Modern MediterraneanSession at the Annual Meeting of the Modern Language Association (Chicago) Organizer: Núria Silleras-Fernández. Details here.1: Translation in the Libro de buen amor and the Libro de buen amor in Translation Emily C. Francomano, Georgetown U2: Empire of Translation: Multilingual Administrative Dynasties in Habsburg Spain Claire Gilbert, St. Louis U3: The Convenience of Polyglossia: Language Use in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia Nuria Silleras-Fernandez, U of Colorado, Boulder Respondent: Sharon A. Kinoshita, U of California, Santa Cruz

Tuesday, 24 April: “All the Queen’s Men and Women: Portuguese Queens’ Households and Power (13th-15th centuries),” by Prof. Maria Manuela Tavares dos Santos Silva (University of Lisbon) on 2018 at 12--1:30pm in Eaton Humanities 230.For registration for the event and information, please contact: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu).Lunch will be provided; please RSVP by 19 April • Doors open at 11:45am

Wednesday, 24 January: “From Treasury to Collection: The Sumptuous Objects of Royal Iberian Women from the 14th to the 16th Centuries," with Prof. Ana Maria Seabra de Almeida Rodrigues (Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon) with Kirk Ambrose (ARTH), Hannah Friedman (ARTH) & Núria Silleras-Fernandez (SPAN) responding • 4–5:30pm at the Flatirons Room, C4C.Thursday, 25 January: “La cultura de corte portuguesa en la Edad Media,” a graduate seminar • 3:30--4:30pm at the McKenna Rose Room.Faculty and graduate students may register for an informal lunch with Prof. Rodrigues to be held on Friday, 26 January from 12:30–1:30pm. For registration for all events and information, please contact: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu). Refreshments will be provided at all events; please RSVP by 19 January.

2016-2017 Program

Monday – Friday, May 22–26: “Reading Ladino/Judezmo” – The CU Mediterranean Studies Group presents the 2nd Annual Summer Skills Seminar, a five-day hands-on workshop on reading Ladino/Judezmo (Old Spanish written in Hebrew characters) led by Prof. David Bunis (Hebrew University), with 23 graduate student and faculty participants from across North America. See the announcement, and program synopsis.

Friday, May 19: “Language, Texts, and Court Culture in Medieval Catalonia and the Mediterranean” - The Mediterranean Seminar & CU Mediterranean Studies Group are sponsoring a session organized by Prof. Núria Silleras-Fernández (CU Boulder) at 16th Colloquium of the North American Catalan Society (NACS) at Indiana University, Bloomington.“Language, Texts, and Court Culture in Medieval Catalonia and the Mediterranean” will be held on Friday, 19 May from 9:00am-10:30am in the Dogwood Room, and feature:“The Language of Peace in Ramon Llull,” - Ryan D. Giles (Indiana University)“El text dels clàssics de l’Edat Mitjana a la moderna,” - Albert Lloret (University of Massachusetts Amherst)“Glossing Around,” - Jesús Rodriguez Velasco (Columbia University)“El català, llengua de cort, de Violant de Bar a Germana de Foix,” - Núria Silleras-Fernández (University of Colorado at Boulder)For further information: http://www.indiana.edu/~spanport/events/NACS.shtml

Friday, May 12: “Networks of Books and Readers in the Medieval Mediterranean” - The Mediterranean Seminar & CU Mediterranean Studies Group are sponsoring two sessions organized by Prof. Núria Silleras-Fernández (CU Boulder) at the 52nd International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held 11-14 May at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI.“Networks of Books and Readers in the Medieval Mediterranean I: Books” featurinhg:• Illuminating the Scriptorium: A Network of Books from the Monastery of Saint Michael in Medieval Egypt - Andrea Myers Achi, Institute of Fine Arts, New York Univ.• Fantasy Kings and Favorite Sons: Arthurian Influence in the Writing of Count Pedro de Barcelós - Taiko M. Haessler, Univ. of Colorado–Boulder• Syriac Literary Circle at the Mongol Court (Lateirteenth Century) - Anton Pritula, Hill Museum & Manuscript LibraryNúria Silleras-Fernández presiding.“Networks of Books and Readers in the Medieval Mediterranean II: Readers” will be held on Friday, 12 May at 3:30pm, featuring:• Reading Petrarch’s Triumphs across the Medieval Mediterranean - Leonardo Francalanci, Univ. of Notre Dame• Corbaccio’s Ambiguity and Parody in Bernat Metge’s Lo somni- Pau Cañigueral Batllosera, Univ. of Massachusetts–AmherstReading, Copying, and Translating the Hebrew Sefer Josippon in Renaissance Italy - Nadia Zeldes, Ben-Gurion Univ. of the NegevNúria Silleras-Fernández presiding.Further information at: https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress

Wednesday, April 19: “Muslims without Frontiers: Between the Maghrib and Iberia in the Fifteenth Century,” a talk by Dr. Roser Salicrú i Lluch (Medieval Studies: Institució Milà i Fontanals, CSIC, Barcelona) on Wednesday, 19 April 2017, 4-5:30pm at Eaton Humanities 230.Free. Students, faculty and the public are welcome.For registration and information, please contact: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu).Refreshments will be provided; please RSVP by 18 April

Tuesday, March 21: The CU Mediterranean Studies Group and the Center for Asian Studies present Prof. Justin Stearns (Arab Crossroads Studies, New York University–Abu Dhabi) (co-organized with Aun Ali, RLST).“Science, Evolution, and Islam in the Modern Middle East”• 11:00am—12:15pm • UMN 245“The Rational Sciences in Seventeenth Century Morocco: Philosophy, Incommensurability, and History” • 5:00–7:00pm • UMC 415/417Faculty and graduate students are welcome to an informal lunch with Profs. Stearns to be held in HUMN 230 from 12:30–1:30pm.For registration for all events and information, please contact: Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu).Refreshments will be provided at all events; please RSVP by 18 March.

Thursday, 26 January: “Spain’s Long Fifteenth Century: A Historical, Literary, and Cultural View” & “An Unknown Compendium of Juan II of Castile”— a lecture and seminar by Professor Nancy Marino (Distinguished Professor of Spanish, Romance and Classical Studies, Michigan State University) at 12:30 - 2pm inUMC 384. and3:30 - 4:30pm in MKNA 103. Faculty and graduate students are welcome to a light lunch with Prof. Marino at noon on Friday, 27 January. To register for the lecture, seminar or lunch, or for futher information, please contact Jeffrey Baron (jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu)

Tuesday, November 15: “Sefarad and Beyond: From the Golden Age to Exile,” featuring “Songs, Liturgy and Stories of the Sephardic Tradition,” a concert of “Ladino” music by Ljuba Davis, and “What’s in a Name? Decoding Andalusi and Sefardi Exceptionalism,” a talk by Prof. Ross Brann, Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies and Chair of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University on Tuesday, November 14, 2016 from 5:30-7:30pm in the The Flatirons Room (C4C) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Free and Open to the Public.

Monday, November 14: Representations of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in 13th century CastileA seminar for faculty and graduate students, by Ross Brann(Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies and Chair of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University) to be held on Monday, 14 November at 3pm in HUMN 270. Faculty and graduate students are also invited to a light lunch with Prof. Brann at 1pm Registration is required to attend both the seminar or lunch; please contact jeffrey.baron@colorado.edu.

Friday, September 30: Islamic Philosophy: A Death Greatly Exaggerated?A Colloquium featuring: Hassan Ansari (School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study)“A Brief History of the Relationship between Philosophy and Shī’ī Islam,” Khaled El-Rouayheb (NELC, Harvard University), “Rethinking the Course of Islamic Philosophy,” and Fouad Ben Ahmed (Humanities, Dar el-Hadith el-Hassania for Higher Islamic Studies), “What Happened after Averroes? Ibn Tumlus and the Arabic Reception of Averroes in the Thirteenth Century,” and an Introduction by Aun Hasan Ali (Religious Studies, CU Boulder) • Open to All • 3-5pm • UMC 386An informal light lunch for faculty and graduate students with the speakers will be held at 12:30pm.

Friday, 13 May: “Power and the Court in the Medieval Mediterranean” at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies (University of Western Michigan: Kalamazoo MI), a session sponsored by the CU Mediterranean Studies Group and The Mediterranean Seminar; organized by Núria Silleras-Fernández, CU Boulder & Zita Eva Rohr, University of Sydney, and presided over by Núria Silleras-Fernández.

Wednesday, March 9: Instinctively Cosmopolitan: The Travels and Encounters of Ahmad b. Qasim al-Hajari in the Early Modern Mediterranean • a talk by Amina Nawaz, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Islamic Theology: University of Tübingen • 2:00-3:00pm • UMC382

Friday, February 26: A Theology of Travel in Medieval 'Islamic' Education • a talk by Mujadad Zaman,Research Fellow, Centre for Islamic Theology: University of Tübingen • 2:00-3:00pm • UMC382

Friday, February 19: Imagining the World: Travel Writing and Early Modern Globalisation • a talk by Nina Zhiri, Professor of Literature, University of California San Diego • 2:00-3:00pm • UMC 415/417

Thursday, February 18: Lost in Translation? Language, Literature, and Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Mediterranean • a colloquium • 1:30-5:30pm • UMC 415/417• John Dagenais: Spanish and Portuguese, University of California Los Angeles"The Case of the Disappeared Catalan 'Masterpiece': Abdullah al-Tarjuman's Disputation de l'asne contre Frère Anselme Turmeda" • Claire Gilbert: History, Saint Louis University “The Spanish Translation Staff of Ahmad al-Mansur (r. 1578-1603)” • Nina Zhiri:Literature, University of California San Diego "The Task of the Morisco Translator" • Fabian Montcher: History, Saint Louis University "The Early Modern Republic of Letters through an Iberian Lens"

Monday, February 1: From Syria to Sevilla: Memory, Text, and the Making of al-Andalus in the Seventeenth-Century • a work-in-progress by Sabahat Adil (ALC), with Aun Hasan Ali (RLST) and Brian Catlos (RLST) responding • noon • UMC 415/417

Friday, November 20: MEH/Med: Middle East History/Mediterranan • a one-day international symposium featuring three round tables • 12:30-6:15pm • Duane Physics Common Room & Reading Room. See program for details.

Wednesday, November 18: Some Notes on the Relationship between Sunnis and Shi’is in Light of the Issue of Documentary Evidence in Islamic Law • a work-in-progress by Aun Hasan Ali (Religious Studies) with Sabahat Adil (ALC) and Brian Catlos (RLST) responding • 12:30pm • UMC245

Wednesday, October 21 : The Miracle of San Gennaro: The Spanish Viceroys as Mediators of Spiritual Power • a work-in-progress by Celine Dauverd (History) with Suzanna Magnanini (FRIT) and Núria Silleras-Fernández (SPAN) responding • noon • Atlas 229

Tuesday, February 17: "Living With Fear: Muslims and Christians in Late Medieval Valencia" A talk by Mark D. Meyerson (History/ Medieval Studies, University of Toronto) • 12:30pm • HUMN 270 (with the support of IMPART and Phi Beta Kappa)

Tuesday, February 17: “Ramon Marti, the Dominicans, and the Thirteenth-century Neglect of Islam” A talk by Thomas E. Burman (History, University of Tennessee - Knoxville) • 11am • HUMN 270 (with the support of IMPART and Phi Beta Kappa)

Thursday, January 15: "Beyond Crypto-Muslims: Perspectives on the Moriscos in the Early Modern Mediterranean" A seminar by Amina Nawaz (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge University) • 4pm • Atlas 229

Monday, November 17: "The Politics of Language in the Medieval Western Mediterranean: From Unity to Fragmentation" featuring Prof. Teofio F. Ruiz (History, UCLA) • 5pm • HUMN 250 • All are welcome

Program 2013-14: Religion

New Mediterranean CoursesUndergraduateHIST 4320: Mediterranean History 800-1500 (Dauverd)HUMN 3850: The Mediterranean: Religion before Modernity (Catlos)ITAL 4170/JOUR 4871: Documentary for Social Change in the Mediterranean (Ardizzoni)

Thursday, 24 April: "On medieval Spanish consensual communities: towns, Jewish and Muslim Quarters, Guilds, Irrigation Communities, and What They Have in Common" • A lecture for HUMN3850 The Mediterranean: Religion Before Modernity, open to students & faculty • Thomas F. Glick • 11–12:30pm • ATLAS 229 Followed by a lunch for graduate students; register by April 16 with Aaron Stamper (aaron.stamper@colorado.edu)

Thursday, 20 February: "Holy Week Violence in Valencia: Interpreting Christian-Jewish Relations in Late Medieval Spain" A lecture for HUMN3850 The Mediterranean: Religion Before Modernity, open to students & faculty • Mark Meyerson (History/Medieval Studies, University of Toronto) • 11am–12:30pm • UMC 247Followed by a lunch for graduate students; register by February 13 with Aaron Stamper (aaron.stamper@colorado.edu)

Tuesday, 18 February: "Medieval Christians Reading the Qur'an" • A lecture for HUMN3850 The Mediterranean: Religion Before Modernity, open to students & faculty • Thomas E. Burman (History, University of Tennessee – Knoxville) [in collaboration with the CU Translation Initiative] • 11am–12:30pm • UMC 247 Followed by a lunch for graduate students; register by February 11 with Aaron Stamper (aaron.stamper@colorado.edu)

Thursday, February 13: 18 Ius Soli – Documentary Film: featuring a screening and a Q&A with director Fred Kuwornu For ITAL4170/JOUR4871 Documentary for Social Change in the Mediterranean [in collaboration with French & Italian] open to students, faculty & the public • 5pm • HUMN 1B90

Friday, February 21: [co-sponsored] Cultural Issues in Translation (Medieval and Early Modern) [Organized by the CU Translation Initiative] Including:"Traduttore, Traditore: Translating Marco Polo's Description of the World (aka The Travels)" • Sharon Kinoshita (Literature, University of California Santa Cruz) "Qur'anic Commentaries, Medieval-Latin Qur'ans, and Modern Translation Studies" • Thomas E. Burman"Science and the Vernacular in Early Modern Spain." John Slater (Spanish and Portuguese, University of California Davis) • 2–4pm • University Club 106To receive pre-circulated readings contact Harrison Meadows (harrison.meadows@colorado.edu)

Tues., April 4: "The Matter of Miracles: Architecture and the Sacred in Baroque Italy" • Helen Hills (History of Art, York University, U.K.) • 5pm, British Studies Room Norlin Library, 5th floor*For the full program see the Department of Art and Art History

Friday and Saturday, September 27 & 28: What is a Slave Society? An International Conference on the Nature of Slavery as a Global PhenomenonSponsored and organized by ClassicsBritish Studies Room, Norlin Library, Fifth Floor, West SideFor a complete program, see the website

Friday, April 12: Konstantinos Ioannidis (Department of Theory and History of Art Athens School of Fine Arts), "Backwards Looking Modernism: Art in Greece during the 1930s" • 5pm HUMN 150

Wednesday, April 10: Konstantinos Ioannidis (Department of Theory and History of Art Athens School of Fine Arts ). "Ekphrasis and Agency: Anthropology, Rhetorics and the Historiography of Art" - a work-in-progress; for papers contact Claire Farago • 12:30–2pm Mackey 202

Thursday, April 11: Roberta Morosini (Romance Languages, Wake Forest) "Goddesses and Penelopis traveling in the Medieval Mediterranean: Bodies (and words) in movement in the Decameron and De Mulieribus" Department of French and Italian • 5pm, Humanities 250

Wednesday, March 6: Brian Catlos “Understanding Diverse Societies as Complex Systems: The Case of Muslim-Christian-Jewish Relations in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean”: Center for Humanities and the Arts • noon, Mackay 202.

28 February-March 1: Brian Catlos, “”According to Right and Reason...” the Conundrum of Religious Diversity and Secular Law in the Medieval Mediterranean,” and Robert Pasnau "Divisions of Epistemic Labor: Some Remarks on the History of Fideism and Esotericism", Goode Family Lecture "Medieval Thought in the Mediterranean," University of Wyoming, Laramie WY

4 January: “Stories of the Mediterranean in the Long Middle Ages I: Lives” & “Stories of the Mediterranean in the Long Middle Ages II: Places”, 127th American Historical Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Sessions co-organized by Brian Catlos and Andrew Devereux (Loyola Marymount); Session sponsors: The Mediterranean Seminar and The Medieval Academy of America

2011-12 Events

Gerard Wiegers, Religious Studies (University of Amsterdam)• Nov. 17: "The Granadan Translator Miguel de Luna, the Lead Books and the Quijote" A Lecture & Discussion: Spanish & Portuguese, McKenna 103 10am (co-ordinated by Brian Catlos)• Nov. 15: “Religious Identity in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean” A Seminar: Macky 202, 3pm (co-ordinated by Brian Catlos)• Nov. 15: "Crypto-Religion in the Mediterranean: The Life and Times of Samuel Pallache" A Public Lecutre: British Studies Room (Norlin Library) 7pm (co-ordinated by Brian Catlos; co-hosted by Jewish Studies)